In April, Alongside Hope launched its new Resilience Fund in response to the devastating cuts to international aid by the U.S. and other governments. The fund was created to provide support for many of its partners and programs that have lost funding from other sources. Soon after the launch, a donor offered to anonymously match all donations made to the Resilience Fund by June 30, 2025, up to $250,000.

“I couldn’t believe the timing of the call,” said Carolyn Cummins, director of fundraising and supporter relations for Alongside Hope (formerly the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund). She was about to introduce the fund at the House of Bishops at their meeting in Niagara, Ont. “It was very exciting to be able to tell them about our donor’s incredible generosity.”

While a quarter of a million dollars is a larger gift than most supporters can make, the anonymous donor was quick to point out that every gift is important, regardless of size. “If we all give what we can, Jesus multiples it like the loaves and fishes.”

A program is underway with Village Health Works (VHW) in Burundi, a longtime partner of Alongside Hope. The USAID cuts resulted in a nearly $1 million shortfall in medication for HIV, tuberculous and malaria, including a $677,000 gap in treatments to prevent malnutrition in children. (VHW) is responding with an adaptive, locally driven solution to prevent a catastrophe, by launching DuhindukeNut, a locally run Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) production in Kigutu, Burundi. The supplement is a dense peanut butter-like product, made from peanuts, soy and dairy, and enriched with critical nutrients.

“Our goal is to build a community-owned, scalable production model that not only meets VHW’s internal demand but also creates jobs, supports local farmers, and lays the groundwork for national provision of RUTF,” VHW says in their submission to Alongside Hope.

“The name DuhindukeNut comes from the Kirundi word ‘Duhinduke,’ meaning ‘Let’s transform.’ It reflects our belief that solving malnutrition in Burundi requires a shift – from dependence on imported aid to locally owned, sustainable solutions. ‘Nut’ refers to the nutritional products at the heart of this initiative. The name captures both our purpose and our approach: transforming lives through food, community leadership and innovation.”

Click here to give online or by phone at 1-866-308-7973. Or you can mail a cheque to Alongside Hope, 80 Hayden Street, 3rd Floor, Toronto, ON, Canada, M4Y 3G2. Please indicate “Resilience Fund” in the memo.

The post Alongside Hope close to achieving fundraising goal before June 30 matching grant deadline appeared first on Perspective.

The working group was hosting two people from Zimbabwean partner TSURO (Towards Sustainable Use of Resources Organization) Trust, and St. Stephen’s went all out preparing a wonderful meal that included Zimbabwean dishes. After dinner Roseline Mukonoweshuro and Farai Gumisai took the large group who attended the event on a slide-show tour of their numerous innovative agricultural projects in the Chimanimani mountains in the in Manicaland Province of Zimbabwe.

Due to climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation, people in their area are facing many challenges, including food insecurity. They are susceptible to weather events and natural disasters.

Gumisai described the devastating effects of a 2019 cyclone which caused flooding and landslides that destroyed the village, fields, orchards and washed all their crops away. Cyclones are more frequent now. “We must come together to mitigate the effects of climate change,” he said.

The TSURO Trust is working to improve conditions with project funded by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and the Government of Canada, and supported by PWRDF that uses nature-based solutions to improve biodiversity and strengthen climate resilient livelihoods.

• Conservation agriculture techniques such as minimizing soil disturbance, maximizing soil cover, and maximizing crop diversity.
• Assisted natural regeneration and enrichment planting such as incorporating fruit trees, indigenous trees, and fodder crops into farmers’ fields and household areas in conjunction with wider landscape rehabilitation through tree planting and natural restoration processes.
• Improved water management including use of structures to control soil erosion, farm level water harvest technologies and water conveyance systems. This includes the construction of four solar-powered boreholes. Solar panels are mounted above a borehole well to provide the power needed for a pump to extract water. A narrow shaft drilled approximately 60-80 metres into the water table by a rig, and the water flows from a raised tank of 10,000 litres into pipes that supply water to households for domestic use and livestock watering.
• Improved livestock and range management such as community planned grazing, improved fodder crops and improved crop-livestock systems. This includes distribution of heifers to farmers.

A biodiverse landscape enables community members to build more resilient livelihoods.

• Use of nature-based solutions in agricultural production and improved marketing to enable higher income earnings.
• New or improved agro-ecosystem activities including non-timber forest products such as fruit, nuts and honey; and production and marketing of fuel-efficient stoves to foster resilient livelihoods. Two initiatives include fish ponds stocked with tilapia and demonstration sites teaching farmers how to grow mushrooms.

The post PWRDF unveils new name and welcomes partners from Zimbabwe appeared first on Perspective.

As of April 1, PWRDF donors have given almost $400,000 to Ukraine relief. This response comes on the heels of a $100,000 allocation to ACT Alliance working with Hungarian Interchurch Aid, and $50,000 to HelpAge Canadaworking with seniors fleeing to safety in Moldova. More responses are being researched and planned.

Since 2014, the non-governmental organization Initiative E+ has been spearheading medical and social humanitarian projects in and around Kyiv and in Eastern Ukraine. Donations from all around the world have enabled them to provide medicine and equipment to both civilian and military hospitals, first aid kits and PPE to first responders and activities and camps for children living near war zones.

As a result of the Russian invasion which began on February 24, 2022, the need has become acute for medical supplies and equipment for first responders and hospitals treating the wounded. The number of injured people requiring medical care has increased tenfold, and 75% of those injured are civilians.

“Ukrainians are doing everything they can to help their own communities during this difficult time,” says Patricia Maruschak, PWRDF’s Director of Partnerships and Programs. “The staff of Initiative E+ have been supporting medical needs since the first Russian invasion in 2014. They remain in Kyiv and are working closely with doctors, medics and first responders who know exactly what supplies and support are most needed. I’m very proud that PWRDF is able to help Initiative E+ meet the urgent medical needs identified by those working on the front lines.”

Despite the outpourting of humanitarian aid, it does not often include the items most needed. For example, in the last month alone, Initiative E+ has purchased external fixation devices for keeping fractured bones stabilized and immobilized; tactical medical supplies for first responders; medical equipment for hospitals and medicine.

Working in partnership with the Ministry of Health, Initiative E+ is currently supplying hospitals and first responders in Kyiv, Kyiv Oblast, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv, which are among the cities subjected to the most serious attacks by Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine. PWRDF funds will help finance medical needs, specifically:

general medicine for the civilian population

equipment for hospitals and medical centres needed to respond to the large numbers of wounded

PPE and medical supplies for Ukrainian military personnel and first responders.

How you can help

Please continue to keep the people of Ukraine and all parts of the world where there is great humanitarian need in your prayers. To make a donation to this response, click here, or to support any of our emergency relief efforts, go to pwrdf.org/give-today and click on Emergency Response. You may also donate by phone at 416-822-9083 or leave a voicemail toll-free at 1-866-308-7973 and we will return your call, or mail your cheque to PWRDF, 80 Hayden, 3rd floor, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 3G2.

The post PWRDF sending aid to the Ukraine appeared first on Perspective.